Dreams and Desires

Chapter 13

Conflicted

*I own nothing and any similarities with any other works are purely coincidental.

Kai was in excruciating pain, completely impaled by the physical manifestation of Destruction that the Golden Master had conjured. The blow had crushed his windpipe, and in doing so his air-stream had been completely blocked. If he received no further help or assistance, Kai would die in mere minutes. It was extremely cruel; not only was it a horrendously painful and tortuous death, but Kai would never get to talk to his best friend ever again. The red ninja would not be afforded the luxury of having any last words; there would be no final questions or statements. For he was physically incapable of producing any audible noise.

"Lloyd!" yelled Jay. The sound broke through his concentration, and Lloyd quickly looked up from his death stare. The other two ninja had been frozen; too shocked by the vicious and cutthroat outburst to speak or move, but it now seemed that they had both recovered and were ready for action. But whether or not they would have the strength to attack their former friend remained to be seen. And Lloyd guessed that they probably wouldn't.

"Let him go!" Jay cried. His eyes were frightened and distressed; desperately pleading with Lloyd to release Kai from the stab. Lloyd smiled in response, an insidious and disgustingly evil smirk crossing his face. "No." he calmly responded, his voice caught somewhere between aloof mocking and furiously damnable rage. But he's still holding back. Jay worriedly thought. There's always more than he lets on; a level of pain and anguish that Lloyd is actively repressing. And that was what scared him the most. The kind and selfless man they had all loved and adored was no longer with them. This was someone entirely different…

Jay's confused and muddled thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he was struck by a ball of purple energy. The impact sent him flying backwards; spinning and twisting wildly through the air, only for his momentum to be abruptly stopped as he slammed into the edge of the tower. The force of the strike had been so great that Jay had just barely managed to stay on the roof of the tower. He lay on the ground, still and motionless, before his body jerked forward to cough. The wind had been knocked out of him, although thankfully it had not been quite as literal as it had been for Kai.

"Why are you doing this?" Jay asked, his words choked up as he spat out blood and rubble. Oh shit. he thought. Coughing up blood was a very bad sign. If it meant that he had suffered any internal bleeding, then that one attack may have already dealt a devastating blow.

"I'm so glad that you asked." Lloyd responded, his voice controlled but excited. They were finally going to learn just how much he had been hurt.

"I was imprisoned in a vengestone cell, held prisoner by that goddamn Elemental Master of Dreams." he began, his voice solemn and grim. "They didn't give me any food while I was there, and I was brought to the brink of death before they cured my dehydration. I was slashed and cut," he said, pointing to the wounds on his face and wrist, "beaten and weakened with heartless precision."

Lloyd was no longer being distant with them; no, his stoic mask of indifference and detachment had finally been ripped away. He was now speaking with the utmost conviction and honesty, really showing them the true depths of his pain and misery. The anger in his friends began to waver; replaced by feelings of guilt and remorse.

"But all of that pales in comparison to what my mind had to endure." Lloyd continued, his voice still bleak and glum. "I may have spent the past few days in a physical cell, but the real prison was created for me by my own brain; torturing me far worse than a human ever could." he blankly remarked, his eyes unfocused and hazy. "Forcing me to experience the most twisted of visions; recount the absolute worst of memories. My life was nothing but a living hell, an endless nightmare of pain. And at the center of all my suffering, the root of my misery, was you ninja." he spat, still disgusted and in complete denial of his most insecure feelings. They would never understand how I feel for Harumi.

Kai's eyes began to well with tears, he was overwhelmed by just how broken Lloyd was. I promised Lloyd that I would look after him, and I failed. he sadly remarked. I could have helped him to cope; teach him how to deal with his pain and heartbreak, but I didn't. And now he has had to suffer because of our ignorance.

"Lloyd, we all care so much for you." Cole said, hurt by that accusation more than anything else his friend had said.

"No you don't!" he screamed, his voice inadvertently tossing the ninja backwards. Kai however remained in his upright position, still helplessly impaled by the glowing tendril. Activating his Essence once more, Lloyd violently ripped Cole off of the ground and began choking him. "You never cared about me; just my power!" he yelled. Cole looked back in shock, mortified by the sudden action. In only a few short days their friend and leader had been turned into their most dangerous enemy.

Lloyd stared up at his former friend with a feeling of spiteful joy; finding himself quite elated and exhilarated by the tremendous power he now possessed. "I never needed any of you!" he cried, the rage beginning to consume him more and more. "You're nothing without your beloved Green Ninja." he sarcastically remarked, poking fun at the ridiculous title he had held for so long. It had never been a choice for him to wear the green gi; the mantle was forced upon him by the insensitive bastards that wrote everyone's destiny. No more goddamn monks are going to tell me what to do! Never again! he shouted, the words echoing throughout his mind. I make my own destiny from now on.

"No!" Jay yelled, as he fired a bolt of lightning at Lloyd. It pained him to have to fight his friend, but he couldn't just sit back and let his other friends die either. It was a lose-lose situation, and Jay would not let the team be ripped apart. Lloyd was caught off guard by the attack, and it hit him square in the jaw; knocking him flat on his back. The shot broke his concentration just enough to release Cole from his choke-hold, but it had not disrupted his focus completely; Kai was still skewered.

Lloyd reached up to his face and felt fresh blood; the shock had burnt away his scabbed skin, once again opening the deep wound on his cheek. "I didn't think you would have the guts to fight me." he honestly remarked.

Jay was extremely conflicted by having to fight his friend, but he was doing his best to look completely sure of himself. "I won't let you hurt us." he stated, trying to sound as confident and defiant as possible. "You may be our friend, but I will do what I must."

Lloyd smirked at him, still sensing a large amount of hesitance in his friend. Jay didn't want to fight him, and he could use that to his advantage. "So be it." he responded, and he began charging up his Essence of Destruction.

Lloyd had to cut the attack short however, as Cole had activated his Earth Punch. All of his energy had to be quickly diverted in order to create a shield, but some of the punch still snuck through his defenses, pushing him back a few steps. Lloyd cursed his foolishness; he had gotten arrogant and lost sight of his opponents. Even worse however, was the fact that he had had to focus all of his concentration on shielding himself from the punch.

Which meant the tendril that had been impaling Kai vanished, and he immediately crumpled to the ground; gasping for air. Lloyd had dealt very serious damage to each of the ninja, but he had so far failed to kill a single one. He needed to take this fight a lot more seriously if he was going to win. And of course he still had a few other powers up his sleeve, and some of them would be a surprise to his foes.

The ninja were unfortunately sporting Stone Armor, so his Golden Power would be ineffective against them. Of course, there was nothing actually preventing him from using the essence, but directly attacking the ninja with the Golden Power wouldn't work. He could easily get around that by using his power indirectly, and Lloyd could also attempt to somehow remove their armor, but it was entirely a moot point; he wouldn't need his most powerful essence to win anyway. Lloyd still possessed his natural Essence of Energy, and accessing the Essence of Destruction was not the only benefit of embracing his Oni blood. The Oni could also use Dark Magic, and it was a very devious force; allowing its user to bend reality to its whim. The ninja had no idea what they had gotten themselves into by facing him.

He quickly conjured another glowing purple weapon and stabbed Jay in the back. The ninja cried out in pain, rooted in place just as Kai had been earlier. Now that both Jay and Kai were incapacitated, Lloyd began casting a spell. He hit the Cole with a purple blast, pulling him violently into the air. But this was different than before, for the purple glow soon vanished and was replaced by a brown, chalky hue. Cole's eyes widened when he realized what that meant: Lloyd was stealing his Elemental Power. He could only look on in horror; helpless to stop his former friend from robbing him of his power. What better way to stop the ninja then to steal their power? Lloyd thought, a devious smirk forming across his face.

The process was a painful one, and Cole screamed in agony. It was as if part of his very soul and identity was being ripped away, leaving behind a broken shell of a man. He was quickly dropped to the ground, feeling the stone roof hit him as all of his power was sapped away. Lloyd looked down in awe, feeling even more strength flowing through his body. Lloyd had gotten a taste of the Elemental Power years prior; when he was training as the Green Ninja, but possessing its full capabilities was something entirely different. Not only did it offer him the ability to manipulate the very Earth and ground beneath his feet, but it simultaneously offered him superhuman strength and durability. Lloyd now possessed four different Elemental Powers, and considering that the first three of them were actual Essences, he was becoming a force to be reckoned with. Never before had one man been so powerful in the history of Ninjago, aside from the First Spinjitzu Master himself.

"Lloyd…"

Looking over at the sound, he saw in surprise that Kai had stirred. He was still incredibly weakened, but was evidently conscious and able to speak again. The ninja was reaching out towards him; his eyes imploring him to stop and reconsider his actions. The sight was instantly stupefying; freezing Lloyd in his tracks. Kai looked nearly identical to how Lloyd had while he was imprisoned; beat and battered to the point of death.

The second thoughts began to slowly return to his mind, and Lloyd suddenly felt very conflicted about his plan. What am I doing? he asked himself. Killing my friends isn't going to solve anything. In his moment of contemplation, Lloyd felt another bolt of lightning hit him, this time it was so sudden and unexpected that he was thrown backwards. Jay had managed to summon his Elemental Power despite being gruesomely impaled, and the strike broke through Lloyd's concentration; freeing the blue ninja from the tendril impaling him. Lloyd spun through the air, landing face first right up against the edge of the tower. And then he found himself falling off the side of the roof, a location that was over 100 stories tall.

Jay caught his breath slightly, before quickly running after him and leaped off the side of the building. I don't want to kill Lloyd, even if he is furious with us. I can't let him die! he thought, hoping desperately that his friend would be able to save himself.

Lloyd saw the ground approaching him, but he wavered in his actions. There were numerous, countless different ways he could save himself from the impact. He could summon one of his dragons, conjure an Elemental Shield, make or manipulate an object to break his fall, teleport using his Oni powers, or even try jumping to another Realm. Survival would be easy, he only had to try. But he found that he didn't want to live anymore. As horrid as the thought was, Lloyd could find no particular reason to continue his miserable existence any further. He had pushed away all his friends, and had lost his only love. He was truly alone and isolated in the world. What good is all this power if I can't be happy?

"What is he doing?"Jay questioned. It didn't make sense, Lloyd was simply refusing to do anything about his current predicament. It's not that he's having trouble summoning his dragon or anything, he's just not trying to do anything! Without the help of his powers, the fall would almost certainly be fatal. Jay sighed to himself, annoyed and worried that he would have to save his friend from attempting suicide. He was still behind the Golden Ninja by about 20 stories, and catching up to Lloyd naturally was pretty much impossible at this point. When Jay unlocked his True Potential, it gave him the ability to teleport short distances through electric currents. Electroportation would have been extremely useful to him right now, but Jay had not maintained his True Potential, and so the power was no longer accessible to him. He could utilize his Lightning as a crutch to temporarily take flight, and so Jay attempted to activate his Electrokinetic Flight, only in reverse. Using his electricity as a boost, Jay rocketed down the side of the tower, quickly catching up with his falling friend. Looked over at Lloyd, he saw a face was by feelings of sadness and apprehension.

"Summon your Golden Dragon!" he screamed, straining his voice through the air whipping past their faces. Lloyd looked down, as if he considered the option, but he refused. Is he suicidal?! Jay questioned to himself, utterly perplexed by Lloyd's actions. He sighed, before reaching out and grabbing hold of him. Conjuring his Elemental Shield, he prayed that it would be able to protect them from harm. Lloyd wrenched at the arm, desperately trying to break free of Jay's grasp, but he was unsuccessful. Then the ground hit them both and everything went black.

Yeah, I know that it's another cliffhanger ending, and honestly, this one is probably the worst one yet. I am sorry about that, but my story just keeps dragging on way longer than I expected. I was going to add quite a bit more to this chapter, but I thought I would submit what I have finished already.